On Tuesday, the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted in favor once again of the highly controversial purchase of the Golden Pins Bowling Alley, and to accept County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry’s July 12, 2018 memorandum on the “World View Incident Investigation Report.”

Supervisors Elias, Valadez, and Bronson voted to approve spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on asbestos removal and remediation for what many believe is an over-priced building.

On May 15, 2018, the Pima County Board of Supervisors in a 3:2 vote approved an Acquisition Agreement to acquire the Golden Pins Bowling Alley located at 1010 W. Miracle Mile for the contract amount of $2,941,600–which is nearly 30% higher than the appraised value of $2.2 million. Supervisor Miller opposed the acquisition citing issues with the appraisal which didn’t include consideration of asbestos and questioned why the urgency in approving this purchase at 30% over appraised value.

Did you know?

According to a memo dated February 8, 2018, prepared by Huckelberry, “The Raytheon Airport Site facilities sustained minor damage and disruptions in business operations as a result of the incident. Additionally, Raytheon continues to be concerned about the World View “Test Planning” process and the safety reviews/oversight of those test plans for activities on the “Launch Pad.”

Supervisors Bronson, Elias, and Valadez objected and approved the purchase, stating the 45-day due diligence would be started after the purchase approval. County Administrator Huckelberry later issued a memorandum stating the county would spend $2.9 to acquire the property plus an additional $4 million to renovate the property.

“Due to my effort to exercise due diligence, the presence of asbestos in the building was made public,” said Miller. “Despite the presence of asbestos and high remediation costs associated with this building, County staff has pushed forward with the sale. Today County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry confirmed that taxpayers will be asked to pick up the majority of the costs associated with removal and remediation.”

“So much about this deal is still unknown and the most important question has never been answered.” Miller concluded, “Taxpayers want to know why the County Administrator insists on buying more and more private property and refuses to use their tax money on fixing our roads.”

On July 18, 2018 Supervisor Miller directed the Clerk of the Board to place an item on the August 7, 2018 Board of Supervisors meeting agenda to discuss the World View incident on December 19, 2017. Supervisor Miller raised a number of issues with the various reports generated by the County and claims made by staff since the time of the explosion that rocked Pima County residents.

Mr. Huckelberry’s July 12 memo raises more questions than answers, said Miller on Tuesday. Miller noted that while Mr. Huckelberry tried to downplay the damages, he now, through many contortions, acknowledges that the damages were “significant,” but “superficial.”

The damages incurred as a result of a hydrogen gas-fueled balloon explosion at “Spaceport Tucson” on December 19, 2017, now total $475,196.08.

According to a memo dated February 8, 2018, prepared by Huckelberry, “The Raytheon Airport Site facilities sustained minor damage and disruptions in business operations as a result of the incident. Additionally, Raytheon continues to be concerned about the World View “Test Planning” process and the safety reviews/oversight of those test plans for activities on the “Launch Pad.”

Currently, the Goldwater Institute is in litigation with Pima County. There are 3 prongs to the lawsuit filed by Goldwater. They include allegations regarding lease terms, alleged violation of Arizona’s Gift Clause and the procurement process employed by the County in the World View deal.

“Once again, Pima County taxpayers’ resources are being used for private interests. In this case, those resources were used to generate multiple stories, piles of paper, and unbelievable spin in order to mitigate the public relations damage this entire deal has done,” said Miller.

“If the County spent as much effort creating a business-friendly environment as they do on propping up questionable enterprises,” said Miller, “our small business owners might have a fighting chance.”

“The purpose of my inquiry was to provide answers that the public wanted and deserved to hear from County staff. The investigation wasn’t conducted by an independent outside agency such as the FAA or the NTSB,” explained Miller. “County staff member John Voorhees stated in an email that he did not want to be directly involved in the investigation of the explosion. As a result of these failures, the public did not get the answers they wanted and deserved.”

Miller stated, “I know that few Pima County residents will ever be able to enjoy the space toursim experience World View hopes to offer one day, but they sure seem to have been taken for a ride by the County administration.”

Miller said she still does “not have a high level of confidence in the investigation or the County’s response. There still remains a number of unanswered questions and unaddressed issues.”

It is amazing that the county doesn’t have the money to fix the roads in this county but they have the money to buy a bowling alley. I want to know just how much the Huckster is getting for this purchase?

Just more evidence that Huckleberry and his puppet
Supervisors hold Pima County residents
and taxpayers in utter contempt.

In whole percentages, zero percent of Pima County
residents can afford a $75,000. balloon ride-
Huckleberry being one of just a handful that might
be able to.

That 75 grand cost is close to triple the per
capita income in Elias and Valadez districts.

The County has relied “wink, wink, nod, nod”
on Liberal Judges looking the other way when
considering the totally unethical, immoral,
most likely illegal transactions surrounding
the whole World View situation.

Better yet, why don’t they scare off the largest
non-government employer [Raytheon] by using
Hydrogen gas powered balloons. Apparently they never
learned about the Hindenburg in revisionist
History class(es).

Pima county has never had a shortage of funds to provide county services.
It’s just that once you account for the priorities of mismanagement, graft corruption, insider deals and special interest, there simply enough money left to provide those pesky needed services like road projects.
And as long as lifetime, lifelong Democrats continue to faithfully vote down party lines, the crooked Graftjalva / Eckstrom machine will continue to run the Pima Democratic party only to provide “selected” worthless canadates to promote the graft and not the greater good.
Until democrat voters wake up to the harsh realities that they’ve been duped, no hope and no change is ever coming to southern Arizona.
Isn’t it amazing that according to the dems, all republicans are nothing more then heartless liars and cheats, praying at the alter of cooperate interest and yet from our school board, our city council and our county board of supervisors, it’s the democrats that run the show and the democrats that steal the show while the public never gets what they paid for?
Amazing how that works. It’s like naming the rat that steals your food only later to make it a pet, but yet it’s still stealing your food as you starve.
Next election it’s time to call in the exterminator and rid the county BOS of the rats!

This article reinforces the conclusions held by most who follow the antics of the Pima BOS and other governing entities that most Arizona politicians think fiscal irresponsibility and corruption are acceptable in the governance of our state. They are wrong and voters have two important jobs this election year to rectify this deep seated problem. First, we must throw out those in office at every level that hold these views. Second, we must all do everything in our power as citizens and voters to make sure there are no more funds made available to the various levels of government in the State, through tax increases and bonding, until our legislators have been disabused of the notion that fiscal irresponsibility and corruption will continue to be tolerated, particularly when, as is the case with the Pima BOS, it is done in our faces with grins on theirs. Register. Vote.

Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry’s emails that have revealed a concerted effort to attack Supervisor Ally Miller, included instructions to staff to stalk her. In apparent violation of the law, Huckelberry was using considerable County resources in an ongoing effort to undermine Miller’s relationship with her constituents.

Seen as the “Tea Party” candidate, Miller was a target of Huckelberry and his cadre since before she ever took office. Once she made it out of a contentious Republican Primary, she was at first courted by Huckleberry’s team and then when it was clear she would not support the corrupt status quo, she was marked for destruction.

How any of these people get re-elected is beyond me. I understand how Chuckles keeps getting replaced as he seems to be the orchestrator of ignorance. The majority of these clowns wouldn’t survive in the real world. Imagine what kind of NEW facility could be built with $6.9 Million. I wonder where they got their deal making acumen. I think it would be beneficial if they took a lesson or two from our President on how to make deals. It’s time to purge the Board of Supervisors from the crony deal loving, racist majority and put some responsible adults in charge. This has to stop before we lose this county completely.

I’m tired of the Huck and his possee of idiots in charge of the county.
When Chuck pushes for a purchase. There’s always a friend of Chuck reason.
Blame the voting idiots of Pima County who keep putting the same jerks on the board. They put their friend Ray Carrol as JP7 judge in Green Valley and he is a joke. No clue to being on the bench. He’s a mockery to the justice system.
Grijalva, that fat turd. He did nothing for the county when he was here. And I am sick of seeing him going on the lime light of the news trying to impress people. He’s the biggest racist. Rumor is, his family lets drug and immigrant smugglers use their ranch land as a corridor. I’ve heard this for years working the southern border near Sasabe. Once again, blame the voters for sending his obese Jabba self to DC.
Sick and ill of all of them.